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Varenastus
Varenastus was a Nathrezim agent and part of the Legion force occupying Suramar City. He was encountered early in House Firesong's effort in the Suramar theatre, by a Thalassian team investigating a missing Nightborne Resistance courier. Leywalker Entilzha Firesong commanded the operation, the first such direct request for aid from Shal'aran and the Waning Crescent since the alliance with House of Devaux brought them into trusted contact with the primary Suramar resistance. Entilzha's initial interest in Suramar had been of a magical and historical nature, seeking the city's secrets, though upon seeing the suffering, it grew deeply personal, hearkening to the sack of Quel'Thalas and the elves abandonment by their allies. Entilzha would permit no such disaster in Suramar, and went to extensive lengths to assure this first mission for the resistance was a success. A search led to the slain body of the courier shoved into a chest on a partyboat in Astravaar Harbor, after two shipments of arcwine had been missed. Entilzha was disheartened, and took the news at once to the Waning Crescent. However, when the team took the news to the Waning Crescent, the Nightborne Raylo was jubilant, offering arcwine as the "courier" had just arrived with a large shipment. Raylo drank the wine as the Highguard tried to explain the courier he'd seen was likely an imposer, and the result was a near immediate withering, all energy drained from his body by a void-based toxin added to the wine. Nightborne were likely unaware of the Dreadlord penchant for taking the form of others, but Raylo's eagerness for the wine that sustained him spelled his tragic downfall. Mana crystals and untainted arcwine proved useless as their energy was only consumed by the agent. Distribution of the tainted shipment from the Crescent and at Shal'aran was halted with Raylo the only casualty, though the Dreadlord's scheming with Ruben Stelleris came perilously close to wiping out the whole resistance in a single stroke. Sabariel Dawnbreaker, Commander of the elite demonslaying Hellstriders, immediately set forth across the rooftops of Suramar in search of Varenastus, whom had been at the Crescent in his Shal'dorei guise only a short time before the team returned. The fearless Hellstrider caught up with Varenastus, having seen the body the guise was apparent, and she tracked him meeting with Ruben Stelleris in the Court of Stars before her ambush fell on Varenastus, caught off guard and slain with her feared bow Demon's Fear. As Dreadlords generally take time to return from the Nether, Varenastus is unlikely be a factor in the near term, though with his name uncovered among documents held by Ruben Stelleris when he was taken out the following day, should this sinister creature ever return to Azeroth, it should be possible to predict his presence and intent. Legacy The actions which followed the foiled "Voidpowder Plot" were very much the opposite of what Ruben Stelleris and Varenastus had intended, with only one casualty from the tainted wine. The failure led to both the death of Stelleris and the banishment of Varenastus for at leaist the remainder of the war, and the Nightborne Resistance grew more confident in the capacity of the Sin'dorei and Quel'dorei, at least those whom Firesong vouched for, prior to the arrival of Lady Liadrin. While arcwine distribution was for a time disrupted, locating an alternate courier was entrusted to Firesong's team, and the deft scheme that saw arcwine moved directly from the vineyards to Shal'aran using a telemancy beacon proved far safer than the wine first going to the Crescent, a reliance that would have placed the resistance in serious jeopardy otherwise. The incident changed the focal point of arcwine smuggling from the Waning Crescent to Shal'aran. so that despite the brutality of the crackdown, the supply of arcwine to elves outside the city was not impacted. Furthermore, several additional channels of acquisition, having learned not to rely on a sole source. Stelleris' own personal stash was a great boon to the resistance, and as the Thera-dora grew into a formidable unit, they began conducting tactical raids on locations in the Court of Stars and Evermoon Bazaar to substantially increase the stores at Shal'aran and Shal'elah, with excess wine later transferred to Belore'aran as the Nightborne ate the Arcan'dor fruit and were free of their addiction. On more than one occasion, boats carring arcwine were commandeered and steered through portals. Arcwine repossession grew more aggressive, Elisande's stranglehold ultimately broken. Suramar is free of the Burning Legion,the links between Nightborne and Thalassian society grew far deeper after the plot, with the Firesong Suramar Consulate opened in the north of the city. Should the Nathrezim return, especially if he rushes to do so as before, Entilzha is prepared to use his name to predict his movements and capture the demon, in physical and/or soul form. Category:Nathrezim Category:Burning Legion Category:Demon